Write For Me
by catscats1223
Summary: In their world, just about everyone has a soul mate. For Sabo whatever he draws on his skin, words and drawings alike, will appear on the skin of his soul mate. Sabo has come to the conclusion that either his soul mate is really bored, very often, or knows that their drawings are the highlights of his life.
1. First Step

In their world, or at least in love's world, there were two different types of people.

Those with a soul mate and those without.

* * *

Sabo remembers asking his parents about soul mates, when he was still very young and naive. When he thought his parents truly loved him, loved each other. He does not recall what prompted him to ask nor what he said exactly, but he can hear his parent's responses clear as day.

"Soul mates are nothing but a fantasy. Something one neither needs nor should even consider wanting if they are not useful!" It was in that conversation that he learnt that his parents did not possess soul mates, learnt that the two were essentially strangers living the illusion of a high-class family life.

It was that conversation, along with the burning desire to _know_ , that was his driving force for drawing a small smiley face on the back of his hand, some where he was sure someone else would be able to see. Where his soul mate would be able to see.  
It was also that conversation that, smouldering slowly in the back of his mind, brought him to tears of relief when he found a larger smiley face drawn next to his on his hand not longer after. _One he definitely did not draw_.

* * *

That small interaction was like opening the flood gates, because it was only after that he found his unknown soul mate almost constantly scribbling all over their skin. Sabo learnt to look forward to the daily doodles, they were a beacon of light in his figurative grey-scale world.

(He was not entirely sure, but Sabo wondered if their interactions took so long to begin because the other, too, was worried that they had no soul mate and was afraid to take that step to find out in case they did not. Sabo knew how scary it was drawing that face, how relief poured over him like a tsunami when he got that shaky lined picture in response.)

While Sabo would always send little drawings in return for each drawing his soul mate drew, he was hesitant to write anything as he was not sure if they could read or write considering the lack of words from them, that and he was aware that not all people his age or otherwise could.  
They hadn't even given Sabo a name to work with, then again, neither had Sabo.

Sabo paused. He hadn't given the other his name, had he?  
Haltingly, he reached over to the pen he had especially saved just to use to communicate to his soul mate. Perhaps all he needed to do was to take that first step once again.

Slowly, carefully, he started to write upon his arm in the simplest font he could.  
'Hello. I am Sabo.' Putting down the pen, he wondered what he would do if the other truly could not read. Did the other have some one else to help them? If they did or did not how would they react?  
If they could not read nor write, would they feel stupid and stop interacting with Sabo?  
That final question got him to wince. Maybe trying to talk to the other would prove to be a bad idea, how could he rectify the situation if-!

He paused once again when he saw the start of words appear under his own on his forearm, written hesitantly and with the same shakiness that their first drawing of a smiley face was done.  
'Hi. I am Ace. I can not read or write. I have help.' The sentences were short, choppy, and letters were constantly crossed out for being wrong, but Sabo was simply glad that the other was able to understand his message, even if it was with help from an outside party.

Quickly, not without that same carefulness that his other message had though, Sabo wrote one more short sentence.  
'I live on Dawn Island in East Blue. You?' He desperately wanted to know if they lived anywhere close to where he did. Perhaps, if they lived near enough, he would be able to meet them if he escaped from his so called 'family'.

'I do too. Mt Colubo.' Those few words baffled Sabo. The possibility of his soul mate living in the same ocean as him was about 1/5. He did not know what the possibility of them living on the same island as him was, but he would bet it was more than a little unlikely.  
(Although, he felt a bit bad learning that the other lived on the same God-forsaken island as he did. It felt, at times, that all those on Dawn Island found their freedom and happiness ripped away from them.)

The revelation of Ace's location seemed to be what Sabo needed to strengthen his resolve to run away from High Town, from the Goa City, one day from the Goa kingdom itself. Ace and his location was just so _achievable_. Something that Sabo had not actually thought about, all his day-dreams of getting away had seemed far away, but now he had a _place_ , a **_goal_**.

Sabo glanced around his room, or more accurately, his study in which he slept. The room was a reminder of his parents, of their harsh punishments and expectations for him.  
His gaze fixed back on his arm. Those words, written in a way that positively bled uncertainty, and the daily drawings were a new found hope for Sabo.

Thinking about his soul mate, about Ace, Sabo found a grin creeping onto his face.  
"I'm coming Ace," Sabo breathed out, feeling suddenly giddy with excitement, "I'll find you and we'll both become free."


	2. Smiles Of Grey

Mt. Colubo, Sabo knew about the mountain and its forests that bordered his city through his father.

The forest was marked as one of the places he 'must never enter under any circumstance', along with Grey Terminal and the outside of Goa City in general. His father always told him that it was dangerous outside the city, that the trash would contaminate him.  
Sabo was always confused and angry whenever his father spoke like that, as if you could use 'trash' as an interchangeable word when referring to garbage and people 'lesser' than your self, as if the city they lived in did not hold its own set of grotesque horrors.

During one of his lessons, geography, so he would not appear suspicious in front of his instructor or father, Sabo laid a map of the Goa Kingdom, also known as Dawn Island, out in front of himself.  
Scanning the area around the proudly marked ' ** _Goa City_** ' Sabo also found the similarly marked, only less bold, ' _Grey Terminal_ ' and ' _Mt. Colubo_ '.  
Of course the nobles of the city would be vain even when it came to their maps. Then again both sites were considered a garbage dump and a simple mountain respectively by the residents of the city, never mind that people lived in both places.

Using his index finger he traced a path from his location to Mt. Colubo, making the route the shortest, and potentially safest, he could. While Sabo did not often listen to his father's self-conceited spiels, he was aware that there was some truth held in the warnings of danger for outside the walls of Goa City.  
Seeing as he was not a resident of Grey Terminal, nor knew anyone from the outside apart from Ace, who could not accurately warn him due to not being there with him. Sabo could not reasonably say _what_ the safest way through the terrain around the city would be, so he decided that sticking to the largest roads marked on the map that led to Mt. Colubo would be his best option. They would hopefully be the busiest, usually people were less inclined to rob one blind when surrounded by others that could interfere.

He briefly considered the idea of following the city's wall, that way he would only need to go through the outskirts of Grey Terminal to get to Ace; probably. Sabo quickly discarded that idea, although, when he figured out that while that way he might be safer physically, he would have a much higher chance of getting caught by the sentries on the wall if he did that.

That's when he realised he was not entirely sure _where_ Ace lived on Mt. Colubo. Sabo could not ask Ace, either, since he lived in a forest and all. Asking for directions would simply confuse both of them.

Luckily, Sabo had informed Ace of his plan to run away; well, as much as he could and still have Ace understand. Dadan, as he learned the woman helping Ace was called, agreed entirely with his sentiment of needing to get out of the city as soon as possible, even if she was not enthusiastic about soon having to house another 'brat'.  
Dadan's comment of them both being brats had been shortly accompanied by a small crude drawing that vaguely resembled a human hand with the middle finger raised. That drew a, very regal, snort of laughter from Sabo and, he imagined, a painful slap to the back of Ace's head from Dadan.

Between the three of them, they were able to work out a rough plan. Sabo was to follow the 'main road', of sorts, that ran straight through Grey Terminal and toward Foosha Village, there for the people who had to walk the distance instead of going by boat. He was was to wait for Ace to find him where the forest started and the terminal ended.

Simple enough, or at least it was supposed to be.

* * *

Everything had been going nice and smoothly, for the most part, in the beginning.  
Sabo had waited until his single free-day of the week, a Sunday, to ask his father for permission to leave the house early in the morning. That way he had a cover for his absence until lunch time, at which he hoped to be long gone, he would have money from his parents for the market and he would have the protection of the day-light from a majority of the thugs within the city walls.  
At first he wanted to leave after his family had fallen asleep, but realised that not only would he not be able to transverse the non-lightened Grey Terminal, he would also be more susceptible to assault when he _could not even_ _see_ _his attacker_.

It took him about two hours to make it unseen through not only the gates of High Town, but also unrecognised through the entirety of Edge Town to outside the city's walls. Sadly he had no time to rest, as Ace would have already set off to their meeting place. Sabo also wanted to see the other as soon as possible, wanted to _meet_ Ace.

As soon as he had entered Grey Terminal, he was struck speechless. The place was so different from where he had grown up, it was chaotic, un-organised, dirty and so dreadfully exciting!

Walking down the road, Sabo found himself under unabashed scrutiny. After all, he was a well dressed, obviously well looked after, _child_ ,walking through one of the most notorious parts of Dawn Island by himself. The sight of him was a little more than curious.  
Just about every one he made eye contact with were frowning. He found, though, that if he smiled at them, they too would smile back, transforming their weary faces into something so much more genuine than any noble he knew would be able to achieve.  
All in all, Sabo found his journey through Grey Terminal quite pleasant. At first any ways.

It was not until he found the number of people lining the road thinning that he felt something was off, that someone was _watching him_... He realised too late what was happening.


	3. On My Way

Sabo was no stranger to robbery, he had crept into Edge Town and seen the less fortunate have their possessions stolen by those who were desperate enough to try their hand at thievery. Even he would be able to admit to pickpocketing a few times, money for the food his parents would occasionally deny him as punishment for failing them in his studies or behaviour.

This was the first time he was the prey instead of the predator in this type of situation.

"What's a kid like you doin' out here?" Alarmed, Sabo whipped his head around to find a stranger's face close behind him, _much_ to close to _his own_. "Dontcha know it's dangerous?" He felt the man's hot breath on his face, he cringed away from the sensation and the smell of rot it brought. His reaction simply evoked laughter from the man who invaded Sabo's personal space, a sound gravelly and cruel in nature.

Not even having to think twice about it, Sabo pivoted on his foot in order to run away from the guy and to his soul mate. That action was brought to an abrupt halt when instead of an open path he was met with the waist of another stranger, this time a woman, who was thankfully not too close to him but was still close enough to block his path.

Slowly he stepped to the side, shifting so he was walking backwards and keeping the two in his line of sight, the man and woman followed him in such a way that offered no escape. That went on all the way up until he felt his back collide with something from one of the piles of trash.

"Where you going, lil' one?" The woman cooed, her dark brown dreadlocks swaying behind her as she inched closer to him. Sabo groped the pile behind him, trying to find something to use against the two. He concluded that he was up against a wagon wheel, not something he could efficiently use to defend himself.  
(He regretted not smuggling a knife or something out of the house when he left that morning, the chances of getting robbed were much higher than the chance of his family finding a weapon on him.)

"Don't worry," Sabo felt large, rough hands slide around his neck, instinctively Sabo lifted his hands to the man's arms to try and, unsuccessfully, pry them off. The male must have gotten closer while he was distracted by the woman talking. "We won't hurt ya if ya give us tha money." He man assured, gesturing to Sabo's waist.

Freezing, Sabo looked down to the pouch attached to his belt, the pouch filled with the money his father had given him that morning. How did they know what it was? For all they knew it could have been buttons, or perhaps small chocolates!

"H-how'd you k-know?" Sabo gasped out, his breathing inhibited by the hands around his throat. The couple grinned at him, the man glanced fleetingly at the woman with dulled green eyes, she giggled in response.

"Guess we could tell you, darlin'" Purred the female. "You see, we've been following you since you left the big city! Had to wait until we could get you without too many people around, but now..." She trailed off, smiling deviously at the blonde child.  
Sabo felt distinctly disturbed by the knowledge that the two had been essentially _stalking_ him for the good majority of an hour. They probably picked him out of the crowd because he looked like a wealthy person, despite his age, and an easy target.

'Well,' Sabo internally lamented. 'It doesn't look as if they were wrong.' As Sabo's hand went to untie the pouch of money, he stopped and jumped in surprise along with the other two when an old barrel landed on the ground in front of the woman from above.  
He watched as the woman glanced upwards, her dark eyes widening in surprise. She barely got the opportunity to let out a high pitched squeal when she was thrown to the ground by a piece of piping to the head, knocking her out cold.

"Helen!" The man cried out, letting go of Sabo in favour of sprinting to the side of, the now named, Helen.  
Sabo stood in shock for a moment, before the sound of another, heavier, object hitting the ground not too far to the side of him caught his attention. The man not being able to hear it over the sound of his own wails.

As it turned out, it was a human and not another piece of junk. The boy was around his own age, that being 7, had unruly black hair and similar eyes. Sabo found it hard to tear his gaze from his eyes when the two made eye contact, it was as if his body was trying to convey something through sight alone.

When Sabo did look away from his eyes, it was to immediately stare at the other's forearm, where the all too familiar 'I'm on my way' was written, not in the least different from the same sentence on his own skin that he had written that morning post leaving his house.

Gently, the darker boy took hold of his hand and tugged.  
"We've got to go." Ace, he quickly realised, muttered, not bothering to whisper as the man would not be able to hear, "Sadness does weird things to people." Sabo nodded and, gripping Ace's hand in return, letting Ace lead Sabo away from the couple, off of the main road.

Briefly, Sabo saw two tattooed-looking sentences on his two would-be robbers. The phrase 'Been doin' this for years' scrawled across woman's's exposed stomach and 'Well, aren't you a darlin'' half visable where the man's shirt rode up from holding his soul mate.  
It was the last he saw of the couple before his own soul mate hauled him out of sight.


	4. Before Meeting

As soon as the two boys had reached the area just inside the forest, they stopped for a break. Trying desperately to catch their breath from running, they had picked up the pace when the distant echoes of Helen's soul mate had quietened, as they were not sure whether the man's voice had grown too hoarse or he had decided to focus on avenging his injured beloved.

Sliding down the tree he was using to lean his aching body on, Sabo sat himself down on the ground, gingerly tapping at his neck to haphazardly figure out how badly the man's grip had damaged him.  
He looked up when he heard footsteps making their way closer to him, this time instead of thieves he was met with the concerned frown of his newly-found soul mate, Ace.

"Your neck okay?" He questioned, crouching down in front of his friend. Sabo nodded slightly, wincing at the stinging that brought with it from his wound, instead he settled for smiling sheepishly at Ace's unimpressed look.

Shaking his head, Ace tilted Sabo's head up slightly so he could survey the injury visually, as Sabo could not himself. Sighing in relief, he smirked jokingly at the blue eyed boy.

"Eh, it seems to just be bruised, I can't see any blood. Gonna hurt for a while, though." Sabo playfully glared at his darker counterpart, swatting softly at his hand as it retreated to his side. "Does it hurt to speak?"

Coughing once as a sort of test run, Sabo found only a dull ache coming from where his vocal cords had been abused.  
"I-I -think I'm fine." Although his words were a little shaky at first, it seemed that his ability to speak was mostly unaffected, which relieved both of them. neither wanted to try furthering their communication through only writing, since it was getting annoying how they had to expose everything they said to each other to Ace's caretaker.

"Why w-were you there?" At Ace's confused expression, Sabo attempted to elaborate on his question, "I was m-meant to m-meet y-you at the forest, not on-n the road." Ace's confusion cleared at that, replaced by a sheepish look, complete with him raising his hand to fiddle with his bottom lip.

"May or may not of got'en bored waitin'." Ace explained, words muffled by his hand in front of his mouth, "Went 'head to find ya. Good thin' I did, too." The half guilty expression turned dark, remembering what had just transpired, he did not lose the guilt entirely though.  
"Didn't mean ta hit her head..." He was talking about the Helen woman. Sabo had guessed Ace was the one who had thrown the piping at her during their escape, it was comforting to know that Ace did not mean to go as far as he did.

"Ace." Trying his best not to stutter because of the pain, Sabo addressed Ace, only continuing once Ace looked him in the eye, "We both know you did not m-mean to do anything more than deter those two. It is _not_ your fault that she got hit, it is _not_ your fault what happens to her. All right?" Seeing the doubtful gleam in Ace's eyes, Sabo tried one last thing, something he was sure would help.  
"You saved me, Ace. Who knows if that man would have actually let me go after taking my money? Perhaps you also saved my _life_ , as well."

While that served to quench Ace's guilt, it also had the undesired effect of panicking him.  
"Oh gods. You could've died!" Ace franticly whispered to himself, setting both of his hands on Sabo's shoulders. "I should've gone to the city and waited for you! I knew there were robbers in Grey Terminal, yet I let you go through there alone!"

"Ace! I'm fine, you did not kn-!" Sabo barely got half of his sentence out before Ace shook him, cutting him off with a tone that was almost yelling.

"You could've died without us ever meeting!" That silenced Sabo. Thinking on it, he realised that, yes, he could definitely could have died; it was actually highly likely that he would have had Ace not come along. He had just mentioned the whole 'you saved my life' part as a way to make Ace feel better, but he had not thought deeper on it until now.  
Some how, though, Sabo could not even fathom the idea of dying without ever meeting Ace in person. It was as if the simple notion of that happening was impossible, in reality as well as in his own mind.

With that thought, Sabo threw his arms around the other, the position of Ace's arms forcing him to hang them either over Sabo's shoulders or arms. The sudden action made Ace pause, distress slowly disbursing, leaving him exhausted from the loss of the high his emotions had given him.  
Slumping forwards, against Sabo, Ace brought his arms around his friend in a proper hug. The strength behind the action only just south of desperate on both of the boy's behalf.

No, neither of the two would bring that particular moment up in casual conversation later on, too stubborn and emotionally stunted as they were.  
Although, when their lives got a bit too much, even for them, they could never find it in themselves to not lean into the other's embrace. A moment that only the two of them would bare witness to.


	5. Meeting The Family

Sabo was not overly surprised to learn that Ace was a part of a bandit group; considering where he lived, with his brash personality and borderline uncivilized mannerisms it was only a little hard to believe Ace was raised by anything other than wolves.

Meeting the group, the Dadan Family, was... Interesting, to say the least.  
Dadan, the leader of the family and Ace's foster mother, was a harsh woman at first glance, but it was obvious that she cared for Ace through her overly exaggerated denial of the fact.  
Watching her look after Ace by _not_ looking after him was odd; similar to watching a tragic accident, not being able to find it in yourself to look away as Dadan slowly but surely dug herself deeper in her own grave marked 'motherhood'.

Dogra and Magra were also weird in their own right.  
Magra cared, it was plain as day and he did not do a thing to hide it unlike his boss, thing is, he cared _way_ too much. Sabo found himself not referring to Magra as an actual bandit, but more as a babysitter for the rest of the family, hired by Dadan, the mother, to look after the rest of her brood. Whilst she acted as Ace's personal supervisor, trying her best to make sure Ace did not go and accidentally kill himself.  
(It was either baby sitter or pet rooster in Sabo's childish opinion, the man looked like the human personification of the animal and it made Sabo wonder why Magra did not don the traditional Dadan Family garb of a turban. It would cover up that unsightly hair, also stop the chicken jokes he heard being whispered by the other family members. No one able to be so mean to a man so nice; at least to his face.)

Dogra, in contrast to the height of Magra, fulfilled the stereotype of small people being angry nicely.  
It seemed to be a hobby of Dogra's to find something to yell or complain about, he liked do do these things at least once daily, but was only truly content when he had reached his average of 7 bursts of annoyance a day. Despite the short man's attitude, Sabo discovered that conversations with him were pleasantly intelligent; compared to talking to some of the other members of the family.  
(If Sabo were to be honest, he only started conversing with the male because he was curious of the dictionary Dogra zealously lugged around. Turns out, he used it to look up words he could not remember the meaning of. It could not be said that the dictionary was not often used.)

Both of the more peculiar members of the Dadan Family proudly displayed soul mate markings depicting three hills and two swords behind them, the symbol of their bandit group. Magra on his broad neck and Dogra on the back of his head where his turban was raised to keep it uncovered.  
Sabo learned that all of the bandits in the family had the same marking some where on their person, in a place where it was easily shown off. All except Dadan and Ace.  
(Even if Ace did not truly belong to the family, he was accepted and treated as one of their own in a way that made Sabo's heart warm.)

* * *

During his time as a part of the Dadan Family, finally being able to spend time face to face with Ace and not having to hold his tongue for the sake of their translator, Sabo had set himself a variety of tasks to do. That or he did tasks assigned to him by the family, usually he went with Ace and avoided those tasks, though, he was not a fan of cleaning their base.

Sabo liked bugging Dadan and some of the other bandits about soul mate markings. He had figured out that there were more than the connection between himself and Ace to soul mate types, the sentences on the thieves that tried to rob him and the symbols on the Dadan Family being prime examples.

(He had only known about the connection of writing on skin, a baker in low town liked to tell everyone she could about her and her soul mate and how they could talk to each other any time they wished by writing on their skin. It was only by luck that it turned out Sabo and Ace shared the same soul marking.)

Through those conversations Sabo learned that the sentences on the pair that assaulted him were likely to be the first things they said to each other; the logos on the members of the Dadan Family showing that they were always meant to end up as part of the group.  
Sabo also learnt about other types of marks, how not all of them were permanent marks and how some were not even visible. Some people could not see certain colours or could not see colour at all until they met their match; there were people who had timers on their wrists, counting down to when they finally met the eyes of their soul mate; certain people even had the name of their other half tattooed on their body from birth!

(One of the most famous types of soul mate marking, Sabo discovered, was one where you did not know who was your soul mate until their death. Upon the death of one of the soul mates, their name would appear on the body of the still alive one . This marking was made infamous by the Whitebeard Pirates, as their captain was the only known person to have this sort of bond with anyone, and he had it with every single member of his crew; so far.)  
(Sabo wondered how many names Whitebeard, the crew's captain, had on his body? How many of his people had died? Seeing how morbid that thought was, he quickly disgaurded it, pushing it to the back of his mind.)

Sabo also made teaching Ace to read and write a priority between his lessons on wilderness survival. In exchange for Ace teaching Sabo how to survive in Mt. Colubo's forest, Sabo was to help Ace with his literacy skills.

They quickly learnt that it was going to be a lot harder than planned to teach Ace the common language, though.  
While Ace could remember what letters made what sounds, when presented with the actual symbol he was at a loss. Ace often said that some of the letters looked alike, that he could not differentiate them from one another.

Luckily, Sabo came up with an idea. While, no, he could not change the way letters looked universally or to Ace, he could at least change some of the letters slightly so that they were still recognisable as what they were and so Ace could tell what letter they exactly were.  
(Ace and Sabo simply resigned themselves to the fact that Ace would need help with reading non-edited texts until they figured out a way to help with that, too.)

Slowly, a routine formed for Sabo. He would go with Ace into the forest in the morning after breakfast; come back some time during mid-day for Ace's lessons; then filled the rest of his afternoons with whatever he pleased, he usually conversed with the various members of the Dadan family, mostly Dadan, Dogra and Ace.  
There was rarely anything that disrupted the routine, only changing slightly over the years he stayed with the family and got to know Ace. Until a small chatterbox was dumped on the family, and he was certainly a rare specimen; to put it nicely.


	6. Counting Monkeys

"Yo!" Sabo blinked at the small boy, looked to Ace's glowering face, to the man who claimed to be Ace's grandfather and concluded that, yes, this was real; even if none of it made any sense.

"Ah! Ace! Meet Monkey D. Luffy, my other grandchild!" Garp, as Dadan had called the old man, shook the boy he held by the back of the collar in Ace's direction, before dropping him unceremoniously to the ground at the sight of Sabo.  
"Who's your friend, Ace? A new grandchild?" The man was already quickly making his way over to them, neither had any time to react as Garp picked Sabo up with two hands and started tilting him this and that way, examining him like a new toy.

"Hey! Put Sabo down, Old Man! He's _my_ soul m-!" Ace did not even manage to finish his sentence before Garp used one of his hands to scoop Ace up, none to gently, and practically crush him and his soul mate in a bone breaking hug. Garp was sobbing something about being 'so happy the brat has someone to help straighten him out for the role of a marine'; well, he was until Sabo put a stop to that nonsense by biting Garp's hand, hard.

Sabo swore his had whiplash from how quickly he had been dropped and hit on the head, _affectionately_ dubbed the Fist of Love.

Soon enough, Garp had left, leaving the Dadan Family alone; plus one overly chatty child, Luffy.

It took the kid taking his eyes off of the two soul mates for him to lose them as abruptly as he had met them. Of course, not being the brightest candle flame, Luffy did not get the memo of why they had left him alone in the first place.  
The two boys had their soul mate by their side, the other was all they needed.

* * *

Luffy was frustrated, sad, but mostly frustrated. The two kids that his grandfather had introduced him to kept leaving him behind, ignoring him and generally being really mean; or at least Ace was, Sabo just did the first two things, he did not seem like the mean sort.  
Shanks had told Luffy that he should learn to let the behaviour of others go, to stick up for himself and his friends only when times truly called for it; he was finding following that advice hard.

He had wondered why the two refused to play with him, why they did not seem to mingle with anyone outside of the bandit group, including him; even then, the two spent more time with each other than anyone else.  
Then he remembered what Ace was saying during their first time meeting. While he had not been able to complete his sentence past saying Sabo's name, Luffy was pretty sure his last two words were 'soul mate'; that meant that Sabo was Ace's soul mate.

Honestly, Luffy was not entirely sold on soul mates. He had seen his previous caretaker, Makino, find her's. She had simply laid eyes on the red-headed pirate captain, Shanks, before practically falling over herself to greet him like she would an old friend. (Their explanation of having met in another life made no sense to him, so he regarded their relationship as a mystery; there were a lot of mysteries, he thought.)  
Then Yasopp, a member of Shank's crew, had often told Luffy of his son and wife; when he had asked if he and his wife were soul mates he had simply shook his head.

"We may not be soul mates, my heart will always belong to the sea, but I love her none the less!" This only served to puzzle him more, how were you meant to love someone the way Yasopp loved his wife if you were not soul mates? Eventually he decided that soul mates did not dictate who you loved or should spend your life with, they could be used as more of a suggestion if one wanted; he knew not everyone saw them as that, though.

As he sat at the front of the Dadan Family's base, legs drawn up to his chest with his arms resting on them and watching the backs of the other two children, he thought back to the dream he had the night before. For as long as he could remember, Luffy had been able to meet people in his sleep; the number was small and he never saw anyone else, but the people he did see were quite kind to him.

Last night, he had seen a boy called Sanji. Sanji was a bit odd, as he could only see the colour blue, but, despite the bullying the other said he suffered because of it, Sanji was kind, one of the kindest people Luffy had ever met. He had told the blond, Sanji, of Ace and Sabo whilst they were drawing in his dream; Luffy had suggested drawing and had done a picture of the ocean for Sanji, as the other loved the sea.

"I think, you should show them why you want to be their friend. Don't let them walk all over you, but don't be a prick about it." Luffy clearly saw how Sanji's eyes had darkened when he talked about not letting Ace and Sabo 'walk all over him'; he did not really get it though, why would they walk on him in the first place? He never got to ask as Sanji had offered to show Luffy the latest dish he had learnt to make and as everyone should know, food trumps all.

Getting up he set out after Ace and Sabo, determined to find out where the two were always going and to finally become their friend. Then, even when awake, he would never be alone again.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_  
 _-Luffy's soul mate connection is a nod to the One Piece fanfiction 'The Dream' by Aliahra.  
\- Sanji only being able to see blue is in reference to chapter six of the One Piece fanfiction 'Of Birthrights and Dreams' by Angyield. (The prompt for the chapter being blue.)_


	7. Unbelievable Lies

Luffy was scared, he could not deny that. He knew that Ace and Sabo probably would not come to save him from Porchemy, especially considering how they had been considering _killing_ him after he had discovered their pirate fund.  
So, yes, Luffy was terrified. He could not save himself because he was tied up and hung like a piñata, the sword the large pirate held horrified him. Being hit with blunt objects did not hurt, but when sharp things were brought into the mix Luffy knew to brace himself for pain; he was not sure he would survive being stabbed with anything other than a knife, even then the knife he used to prove himself had hurt a lot.

He wished that the people from his dream were here, they would have been able to save him. Maybe if Sanji were there he would be able to reassure him with his harsh tone and kind words, holding Luffy against his bony chest.  
Looking at Porchemy's weapon, he felt dread settle heavily in his gut. Luffy really just wanted Ace and Sabo to be there.

* * *

Sabo put down the last bag of money that he had been carrying with a sigh of relief, after hauling bag after bag he was tired. Looking behind him he saw his friend come up next to him and deposit his two bags of coins next to his and with the rest of their treasure, now all moved to a new hiding spot.

"Ace, do you think Luffy will tell the pirates about where our treasure was?" Ace looked up in surprise, as if the thought of Luffy doing anything had never crossed his mind; knowing his soul mate as well as he did, Sabo did not doubt for a second that it did not.

"'Course he would! They'd kill him otherwise!" He watched as Ace crossed his arms and huffed, completely sure in his assessment; Sabo did not doubt that the Bluejam Pirates would definitely kill Luffy if the boy refused to give them the information they wanted, but...

"He wanted us to like him so badly, though." Sabo murmured softly, thinking of how Luffy was so persistent in following them every morning only to be shot down. Then he thought back to how Luffy had tried to lie to Porchemy about Ace and Sabo's pirate fund, but failed seeing as he could not lie to save his life; literally. "He may not be able to lie, but..."

Ace looked at Sabo strangely, as the paler boy only got more so after his sentence trailed off. Before he realised what Sabo was trying to convey.

He remembered how Luffy had kept coming after him and his soul mate, no matter how hurt he got in the process, never giving up; doing what ever it took to become their friend.

"But he can just _not tell them_." Ace whispered in horror, "Oh gods, what have we _done_."

* * *

"I'm gonna give you one more chance to tell me where that Ace-brat hid our cash." Porchemy brandished his sword threateningly; sunlight dancing along the blade from the holes in the wood of the small house they were in, making the sharp point glint maniacally.

Swallowing hard, mostly so the feeling of bile that rose in his throat went away, Luffy shook his head violently.  
"No! I won't tell you! Never ever, ever!" He knew that saying that was not in his best interests, especially when he saw how Porchemy's face twisted in fury, but he would not sell out the other two boys.

As Porchemy raised his sword up, readying it to strike the final blow, Luffy felt the familiar fear that had been there the entire time he had been in these pirate's presence intensify; the fear was tinged with an uncharacteristic, sickening, relief.  
'Being dead is better than being alone, any ways.'

 **CRRRAACK!**  
The deafening sound rung out in sync with the wall bursting inwards, two large objects being flung in amidst the debris. Immediately after landing, they moved; one went after Porchemy, who had turned around in his surprise thus leaving Luffy out of immediate danger, and the other moved towards himself and the rest of the Bluejam Pirates that were there to witness everything happening.

It did not take long for the person who came toward Luffy to knock out the pirates surrounding the tied up boy. Luffy found it hard to lift his head after the small burst of energy he got from shock due to the explosion; he now hung limply in the air.  
It was not until he felt the rope around him being cut and landing in warm arms instead of on the floor that he got his first proper look at his saviour.

Wide blue eyes looked down on him, making Luffy freeze; They _had_ come for him, they _hadn't_ left him alone. This realisation struck him hard, he was sure that Ace and Sabo hated him and would leave him to die; but, no, they were _here_ and had _saved him_.  
The first few tears came slowly, they steadily became quicker as his emotions reached a breaking point; it was almost comical how Sabo's already naturally wide eyes seemed to widen even more at the sight of Luffy's distress.

* * *

Ace finished up his fight with Porchemy, breathing hard and staring down at the unconscious form of his enemy.  
The pirate was vulnerable right now; Ace wondered how easy it would be to take that final step, to prevent this man from ever hurting anyone else ever again. To do what Porchemy was planning on doing to an innocent little kid just for a bit of money.

Sabo's low coos brought Ace back to himself, his grip on his weapon, a lead pipe the same as Sabo's, loosening considerably from his previous white-knuckled hold. Ace looked over to where Sabo was cradling the recently rescued Luffy, that was when he heard Luffy's cries reach his ears.

Not being a fan of 'cry babies', Ace opened his mouth to tell the youngest male to be quiet. Pausing, he closed his mouth once again and looked around the room they were in, his vision focusing primarily on the main interrogator and the discarded weapons laying about.

Ace choose to stay silent, letting Sabo do his best to soothe the boy. While his friend helped the third boy, Ace walked up to Porchemy, picking up Luffy's straw hat on his way, crouching down next to the man's head, and undid the pirate's earrings.  
"I won't kill you, but if I ever see you doing something like this again..." Ace did not bother finishing his sentence, it was not like Porchemy could hear him in the first place; although, the threat hung in the air, not needing to be fully vocalised for the message to get across. It was not like Porchemy was going to be messing with them any time soon.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**  
 _I'm going to start updating weekly instead of daily as I've posted for a stright week and if I continue I'm quickly going to burn myself out. I've started work on the next chapter and will most likely start posting on Sunday's, in my time-zone, if not the first weekend of December, then definitely the second!_  
 _Thank you for reading!_


	8. Needed Like Medicine

Ace had sold the earrings he had taken from Porchemy, not wanting something so filthy near his friends.  
(And wasn't that _weird_? He had _friends_ now, not just Sabo but also Luffy. A little boy who accepted and wanted Ace with him as readily as his own soul mate did; He decidedly ignored the voice in the back of his head hissing at him how that would not last long.)

The extra cash the earrings brought (the things had been made of _gold)_ went to buying pain killers and medical supplies rather than being added to their pirate fund. Luffy, while his strange power of being made of rubber saved him from the worst of the possible injuries, was badly hurt. Sabo and Ace had not escaped unscathed, either.  
While the two older boys had the sorts of supplies for these occasions stockpiled, there was only enough for two people in the end and their wounds had been too numerous to be able to split the equipment as needed.

Stealing what was needed was out of the question when Ace could clearly see his soul mate trying his best to hide a limp; Ace found he could not ignore the painful pulling sensation his left arm made when he moved it too much, cringing from the sharp transition of a dull ache to sharp throb the muscles made when he did. So the rest of the Dadan Family had been asked to help the three out; while they were scolded for their recklessness, the rest of the family voiced minimal protests.

He and Sabo had put off their usual routines in favour of resting and getting to know the new third member of their little group. Quickly, they learned that even when injured Luffy did not seem to have a limit to how energetic he could get; Being told to rest had only agitated the child and spurred him to bounce around the Dadan Family's hideout _more_.

The original two got a kick out of watching the rest of the Dadan Family try and entertain the smallest of the group. Their attempts to play with Luffy looked more like like the kid extracting a cruel and unusual punishment with how bone-tired all the adults seemed.

A few days after the incident with Porchemy, Ace and Sabo were spending their late afternoon in the room they shared with Luffy in the bandit's hideout, listening to the racket caused by a hyper-active Luffy messing with the rest of the family once again.  
They forwent their bedding, choosing to lean against the wall and each other instead.

Ace rested his head on Sabo's shoulder, an act unlike the normally fiery and anti-social male's personality. Sabo had kidnapped Ace's closest hand to him, holding it between his own two hands and playing with the rough fingers absent mindedly.

"Sabo..." Ace's voice was soft; the quiet tone prompting Sabo to pay attention to his soul mate. Usually neither of them spoke in peaceful moments like this, if they did they'd just half-heartedly ramble in order to fill up the silence, barely remembering what was said and probably never bringing it up again. Ace had used the other's name to gain his attention though, waiting for Sabo; not immediately jumping into what he wanted to say.  
"What do you think would've happened to Luffy if we had been too late?" Ace hesitated before adding on, voice barely even making any sound, "Or hadn't gone to save him at all?"

Sabo was not entirely sure what to say in response to that. he could get angry and say that Ace was being an idiot, that everything was _fine._ He knew that doing this would get him no where in the end. Ace tended to over or under think relatively simple things like this, especially when it involved people and his standing with them.

In place of saying anything, he lifted the hand he held in his own up to his chest. Ace slowly let his half-tensed muscles relax once again, leaned the rest of his weight against Sabo before finally lowering himself into the other's lap. Ace kind of thought of Sabo's affection as a sort of medicine, soothing his mental pains with his kind touches; the hand he felt shifting through his hair was comparable to sleeping pills, much preferred to the real things.

Sometimes, words were not needed to convey messages. After all, people had been communicating using body language and touch for so much longer; even then, Sabo was sure that he and Ace would have been able to invent their own language through contact and gestures alone.

'We were there, Ace. Luffy's fine. You are not to blame. Never have been, not for the reasons you think.'

* * *

 _ **AN** : I wanted a nice calming chapter this time, something to cheer myself up. I'd expect a similar chapter next week, too, if I were you; maybe with Luffy included?_  
 _ **-** Here, have a cute little quote thingy I thought of for Sabo. Will it be used? No idea._  
 _Sabo- "I could live without you, Ace. I do not want to, though, never without you."_

 _For anyone interested in what has me needing to cheer up, it's been speculated that I may have juvenile arthritis._  
 _As it is, I'm in almost constant agony and have been having minor sleeping problems, please excuse me if my writing quality has dropped slightly. If you'd like to, I'd love people to help me by pointing out things I need to fix/work on. I'm still learning, even under these circumstances, after all!_


	9. Defined By None

Sabo and Ace had to constantly remind themselves, and each other, that Luffy was indeed a seven year old child; not a two year old. People other than the two boys would often need this reminder due to Luffy's behavior; while Ace and Sabo were also in the same boat, they were almost constantly in his presence and encountered situations which most others did not with Luffy. That namely being the topic of relationships.

Romantic relationships simply confused luffy, his two friends found that out almost immediately after the topic of soul mates was brought up for the first time between them. They had tried their best to explain to their youngest member that platonic and romantic relationships were indeed separate from each other and _'No, Luffy. You do **not** have a romantic relationship with either of us!'  
_

They eventually, and loosely, were able to get through to Luffy that platonic relationships were friends, familial was family, and romantic was people whom you loved in a way uniquely differing from the previous two. _Then Luffy asked what Ace and Sabo were._

Quickly, and as subtly possible, they direction the conversation onto other, non-relationship, centred topics.

* * *

If the two soul mates had to be honest, neither of them were entirely sure what to define their relationship as. They were as close as brothers, but felt that their relationship was not quite family. Platonic was definitely an option, more so than romantic in their eyes, and whilst they had 'intimate' interactions those were mainly just comforting touches. How could they be in a romantic relationship when they had never even kissed?

Of course, Sabo's first idea had been to look at a dictionary; Ace could not find it in himself to argue, he was not coming up with any better ideas. Luckily, they had one which they used to aid in Ace's language lessons; meaning they did not have to attempted to steal one off of Dogra. A feat they did not think would be possible with how seldom he let the thing out of his sight.

"A-ha!" Sabo cried out triumphantly, garnering Ace's wandering attention. "I've found 'romantic'!" Ace quickly moved so he was sitting as close to Sabo as he could, craning his neck so he could join Sabo in viewing the words description.

' _Romantic : Connected or concerned with love or a sexual relationship_.' The boys looked at each other for a moment, before shaking their heads in sync. That was definitely not them, while they certainly loved each other, sexual feelings had never been involved; even if they focused solely on the loving part the term's definitions just did not sit right with them, as if it depicted the people involved as detached from each other.

Next was romance.  
' _Romance : An exciting, usually short, relationship between two people who are in love with each other_.' That definition made them both visibly cringe, the thought of them only being together for a short period of time just seemed so wrong to them. They were soul mates, meant for each other, meant to stay side-by-side for the rest of their days. A fling like that came off as unfair and inhumane to the children.

Sabo decided that any word revolving around the conventional concept of 'romance' was unacceptable and applied to them in no way, shape or form. He skipped back to the definition of 'love' instead. There seemed to be multiple categories for the emotion, they just hoped that there would be one that was closer to what they had.  
' _Love-Affection : A strong feeling of deep affection for somebody, especially a member of your family or a friend_.' They breathed a sigh of relief at the explanation, that was much better than the last two terms, sadly it did not seemed to fit them as well as they hoped it would.

Skimming over the rest of the categories listed for 'love' they were not able to find one they thought applied to them. The closest, and one they approved of most, was 'affection', even if it never mentioned a partner in a relationship position.

Eventually, Ace placed his hands on either cover of the dictionary, and consequently over Sabo's slightly shaking hands, he gently made the blond close the book.  
"It's alright, Sab." He reassured the other, bringing his arms up to circle Sabo's trembling shoulders. "We don't need to limit ourselves to anyone else's terms, we can make our own." Had it been anyone else, perhaps even himself, Ace would not have had to comfort them. Sabo however, was raised in a society where anyone not 'conforming' was ridiculed; not being attracted to women as was 'normal' was already toeing the line for him. Even if he had not been a part of that sort of system for years now, it was harder to let go of ideas installed in him than it was to learn them.  
Ace understood what his soul mate felt and could relate to a certain extent, his experiences with people and their reactions to him helping.

"Y-yes, you're right." Sabo agreed, taking deep breaths in order to prevent any further panicking or emotional distress. Turning his head slightly, to be able to look at Ace directly, he grinned. "After all, I'll never have to go back to or even interact with my parents ever again!"

* * *

"Did you really believe that this would be able to last long? You have a duty to fulfil, I will not tolerate any further disobedience, _Sabo_." His father stated darkly, staring into his son's frightened eyes.

" _P-Please, do not hurt them..._ ** _I will do what ever you want just don't touch my family!_** "


	10. Confined By One

" _ **From this moment on, we'll have a bond stronger than anyone else's! A bond that cannot be broken!**_ " In his mind's eye he could hear his soul mate's voice ringing out sharp and clear; see his cup raised, sparkling drink sloshing over the sides carelessly. Sabo could still recall the new taste of the alcoholic drink Ace had stole from Dadan, the drink they had sworn with to cement their promise to each other.

" _ **Augh! This stuff tastes nasty!**_ " Luffy's reaction to the alcohol, even so long after it had happened, still drew a chuckle out of him, no matter how bitter it sounded in current circumstances.

At first Ace had suggested the idea of bonding to each other with a toast of sake, problem was that the ritual was done between men to form a bond-of-brotherhood and the two soul mates had already decided that was not the sort of relationship they wanted tying the two together. Surprisingly it was Luffy who had come up with their solution.

" _ **This can be our promise! No matter what happens, we'll always be family!**_ " A sob tore itself from Sabo's throat as Luffy's proclamation came to mind. Ace and Luffy were his family, an odd sort but family none the less; it was almost as if he and his soul mate were the parents and Luffy their child. They had slowly began teaching the youngest what he would need to know to survive; not only that, they provided a some-what stable home-life for the misplaced child, even if that place was among two children in similar situations and a bunch of wanted criminals.

Sombrely, Sabo realised he might just of broken that promise in his family's eyes when he _choose_ to go along with his 'father'. Even if he only went in order to protect them in the first place...  
Clenching his hands, Sabo started blinking hard, trying to push back frustrated tears. He was alone, his father was not going to come by any time soon, but he wanted to prove to himself that he was strong! He would not show weakness, not right now, if he did it would feel as if he was giving in and that was the last thing he wanted to do.  
All he wanted was to get _out_. To go back to Ace and Luffy.

His gaze drifted to his room's door, then over to the window. He knew which was his best option, while the idea of exiting the house from the third story window was a scary idea it was the one he knew gave him the best chance of escape; the best chance of making it out before his father knew he was even gone.

He had read once in a novel, about how someone was trying to escape out of the window and used the bed sheets as a sort of makeshift rope. Looking at his own covers made him nervous though, they were so thin, made to covering someone in the height of Summer weather; surely they would break under his weight? Well, he didn't really have much of a choice.

As he took the top covering and the proper blanket, tying them together, he chanted to himself under his breath,  
"This is the best option, this is the best option, _this_ _is the best option!_ "

The bed only had three coverings: a top covering, a light blanket, and a bed sheet. The last of which was old and delicate, the only other material he had to add to his rope though. Sabo moved over to his desk, pushing it so it sat in front of the window sideways, then he tied his rope to one of the table legs. Looking out the window he assessed how long it was, while the rope did not go nearly as far as he hoped it might of, it went to a distance he prayed would be low enough so he didn't break anything when he had to drop the rest of the way.

Carefully, He got up onto the desk and stated to climb out the window, holding onto the rope as he did so. As he hung by his arms only, he twisted his foot in the rope to steady himself as he adjusted his grip, then he started his descent.

* * *

"I don't understand!" Ace huffed, kicking at the ground as he stomped back to the bandit's hideout. "Why'd he want to go back to those-those _scum_! Why'd he choose them over us?" He grit his teeth, the way Sabo had just walked off with his father still bothering him greatly.

"Maybe he never actually wanted to be with us anyway..." That mumbled comment was almost immediately followed by a tap to the back of Ace's head. Looking behind him, Ace saw Luffy with his hands fisted and one held up in a punching action, at least he knew what the tapping sensation had been.  
His annoyance at Luffy trying to punch him in the head was squashed when he noticed that the other was holding back sobs, using the back of one of his fisted hands to roughly wipe the tears away but failing as they were always quickly replaced.

"How could you say that!" The younger boy cast his misty eyes up to Ace, giving up on hiding his tears. Usually Ace would make a comment about how weak Luffy was being when he cried, but found that his words died in his throat. "Sabo loves us! He loves you a lot and you know that! How could you doubt him! He only went with his father to save us!"

Ace knew all this, really, but Sabo's acid laced warning to not come after him still looked down upon him darkly. Put into Luffy's perspective, though...

Ace cursed at himself harshly, walking towards and past Luffy, back towards Grey terminal. He set one of his hands on Luffy's shoulder, pushing him roughly in the direction they were walking before, never once letting up his quick-set pace.

"Lu, go to Dadan's and tell them what happened with Sabo and that I've gone to get him back!" Ace sped up when he heard the beginning of protests come from the other. "It's important you do it, Luffy! I'm counting on you!" That was all he managed to convey to the younger boy before he broke out into a sprint, eyes dead on Goa City that lay beyond the forest.

'I'm sorry Sabo. I should've known you'd never lie to , please, wait for me! I'm on my way!'

* * *

 _AN: The plot for this 'arc' of the story was something created by_ _Kurogitsune Yue_ _and myself; it will be spanning for the last couple of chapters. After I finish up with Sabo and Ace's little story I'm thinking of exploring other characters in this AU, please tell me who'd you like to see!  
(Thank you again to __Kurogitsune Yue_ _for helping me figure out what to do for this part of the story!)  
Now, it's just about mid-night here and I'm going to go to sleep. Happy New Years everyone and happy birthday to that fictional character we all love, Ace!_

 _Please note- In this AU the Bluejam Pirates are the ones to set up and start the fire, nothing to do with the ASL boys._

 _-  
Check out __Kurogitsune Yue!_ _  
(you can find them on with the id of_ _5383358 on Fan __.)_


	11. Makeshift Meanings

_Pant, pant, pant. Hiss._

Sabo sprinted through streets of Goa City's High Town, steadily making his way to the winding paths and alleys of Edge Town, subsequently in the opposite direction of the frenzied shouting behind him. He held one of his wrists in front of himself, clutched to his chest, in hopes of minimising how much his movements jolted it.

While escaping his room by climbing down the rope he had made of bedsheets, he had managed to sprain his wrist. Not halfway down the rope the old sheet he had been wary about including in the rope, ripped, causing him to drop the last story he had to go whilst unprepared to land.

Unfortunately, the way he fell had him turning mid-air, making it a choice between either his head or his hands that would ultimately meet the earth first. That was one of the easier choices he had to make recently; the outcome of his decision definitely the best compared to what he had been going through.

As he made it to the border between the two tiers of Goa City, Sabo skidded to a halt, feeling horror gnaw away at his insides as he gazed out beyond the containing wall of the city. Where once you would be able to see the trash heaps of Grey terminal and forests of Mt Colubo, was now completely obscured by thick swirling smoke. The fumes were an ominous black, a shocking contrast to the orange-yellow of the setting sun.

Unfortunately, Sabo only got a moment to spend his thoughts wholly on how big the fire in Grey Terminal would have to be to create such a large amount of smoke, before he registered how the yelling formerly coming from his 'home' had gotten _louder_ and _closer_.

Staring out towards the terminal, then to the mountain, for a few seconds more, Sabo quickly resumed his mad dash for the city's exit. As he ran, he spent his thoughts on his real family.  
'Ace, Luffy. Please, where ever you are, be safe!'

* * *

"Shit!"

Quickly, Ace righted himself from where he almost fell after tripping. It was hard to see the rudimentary path that led to Grey Terminal on a good day, routine more than sight granting him easy passage, but now with the factor of sight almost entirely stripped away due to the lateness and the smoke blocking the remains of the sun's light it was nigh impossible to traverse the terrain without continuously stumbling!

As it stood, Ace found himself mid-fall once again not a minute later, unfortunately this time he was not able to stop his descent and was sent face first into the dirt.  
Frustration welled up inside of Ace, with no other outlet all he could do was fist his hand and pound the earth while the other simply clawed at it, both limbs aching from impacting the ground.

"Dammit... **God dammit!** " Ace lifted his head from the ground, gazing hatefully at the spiraling plumes of smoke ahead. "Sabo's in serious trouble and here I am unable to do anything to help all because of some _smoke? How useless can I get! _ " Laughing bitterly, he hauled himself up to his feet, stumbling forwards not because of obstructions but because of the exhaustion that hit him like a brick wall. Never had a trip down the mountain seemed so hard.

Forced to pause for a second, Ace bent over with his hands on his knees, trying to regain his energy for the last bit of the trip. Closing his eyes, he imagined what Sabo would think right now, how pathetic he would seem to his best friend, to the person who wouldn't even know that Ace forgave him-!

Regret washed over Ace. In his rush he had entirely forgotten to tell Sabo what was going on, forgot that he had the option to reassure the other through their soulmate link; that fact made him feel ashamed, he could not believe that something so special to them had been glossed over in his panic. What's more, Ace did not even have anything to write with since he never went to Dadan's with Luffy.

Opening his eyes, Ace was met with the sight of his dirtied front, soiled by his fall, the dampness of the substance making it stick to his clothes and skin. Unsteadily, Ace brought he muddy hand to his arm, attempting to write on his skin with the dirt, but found it did not work. Without thinking, Ace rubbed his hand against the chafed skin of his other, coming away bloody; while blood was not much better than mud, at least it stayed somewhat legible on his skin.

Now, as Ace continued on his way, he just had to hope that the unconventional method of writing would show up on his soulmate's own skin.

* * *

He was too late.  
Too late and did not even know he was on a _time-limit_.

Flames that licked at his skin faded, paling in comparison to the borderline dazzling explosion he could see floating above the ocean's surface, partly obscured by the gargantuan ship sailing steadily past the carnage. The people on board only visible thanks to all the fire surrounding the area, a type of light that they took in with childish awe, seemingly unaware of the lives their entertainment cost or uncaring of that particular spending.

His knees burned and blistered from the hot metal he knelt on. He found the physical pain feeling numb compared to the emotional turmoil the fading bloody words on his arm brought his heart.

Ace brought his forearm up, clutching it in a protective way, as if to stop the words from fading. Trying to prevent his reassurance to Sabo from being wiped away. He covered his hand in ash from the nearby fire, the danger of staying where he was escaping him, and franticly traced the words on his arm over and over again in the residue.

'Be safe. I'll help you, Sabo.'

* * *

 ** _AN:  
So sorry about the long wait for this chapter and if it may not live up to previous chapters! The last bit was added in order to further the plot and not just have the little boys running around the whole time; I think it fulfils it's purpose well._**

 ** _As to why this was so late, well, my body decided it wanted to get all up and personal with the ER (Emergency Room/Response) of my local hospital. Luckily, the medication I've switched to seems to deal with all of my pain-related problems much more efficiently. So here's hoping I'll be able to write on a more regular basis!_**


End file.
